Eraser cleaner



Aug. 29, 1961 E. BARNARD ERASER CLEANER Filed June 29, 1959 a o R. @l/ W a mm N g 7 m M IB R g .I W m N o m 0, ya u E m 4 W H w I k m. W m H w a M M W W W a... 5m ow m H 4 w .r 5 a; 0 E 4 0 E United States This invention relates generally to eraser cleaning ap paratus, and more particularly to a novel and improved portable eraser cleaning apparatus.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an eraser cleaning apparatus which includes a plurality of brushes, one of which is movable, which are mounted in the upper end of a compartment contained in the bottom of a chalk dust collection box, and which further includes a detachably mounted drive means in the box above the compartment and having a shaft extending down into the compartment and connected to said movable brush for operatively moving said one movable brush when an eraser is manually moved across a perforated guide track structure in the lower end of the compartment and past the faces of the brushes.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an eraser cleaner of the class described which includes a perforated guide track over which is positioned a horizontally and centrally disposed rotary brush for cleaning the erasers, and which furth r includes two stationary brushes, which are disposed on opposite sides of the rotary brush, and which serve the purpose of guiding the erasers and taking some of the excess chalk from the erasers before they are engaged by the rotating brush and for giving the final brush to the erasers after they are engaged by the rotating brush.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an eraser cl aner of the class described which is compact and rugged in construction, economical of manufacture, and efiicient in operation.

Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of the specification wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts of the several views.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of an illustrative embodiment of the invention, and showing the front cover in an open position;

FIG. 2 is a right side view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevational sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1, taken along the line 3-3 thereof and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 4 is a partial horizontal sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1, taken along the line 4--4 thereof and looking in the direction of the arrows; and,

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary front elevational view, similar to that of FIG. 1, and showing a modified embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing, a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 1 through 4 and this embodiment includes a chalk dust collecting or catching box having the back wall and the top and bottom walls 11 and 12, respectively. The box further includes the left and right side walls 13 and 14, respectively, and the box front cover 15. The various walls of the box and the cover 15 may be made from any suitable material, as, for example, from a light metal or plywood material. The box walls may be fixedly secured together by any suitable means.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the box cover 15 is hingedly connected to the wall 13 by means of conventional hinges as 16 and 17. The cover 15 is adapted to be releasably secured in place in the closed position by means of the conventional type lock catch 18 which operatively engages the lock clasp 19 which is mounted on the box wall 14. The box is provided with a suitable carrying handle as 20 and a plurality of rubber coasters 21 to prevent slippage of the box when it is disposed on a table. It will be understood that the eraser cleaning apparatus of the present invention may be used when sitting on a device or it may be hung by any suitable means on a building wall for use in such position.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, an electric drill holder means is provided which includes the base portion 2 2 which is fixedly secured to the back .wall 10 by means of the screws 23. The drill holder is preferably made from a sheet of metal which has an outwardly extended leg portion 24. The number 25 generally indicates an electric power drill of a conventional type which will run on the usual household power of volts A.C.-D.C. A drill of a 4 capacity is an example of one size drill that may be used. The holder plate leg 24 is provided with the recess 26 on the outer end thereof into which is seated the forward part of the drill 25. The leg 24 is secured to the drill 25 by means of the screws 27. The electric drill motor trigger 28 is adapted to be held in the operative position by means of the trigger lock ring 29. The drill 25 is adapted to be connected to a suitable source of power by means of the usual electric cord 34) which is adapted to extend through the hole 31 in the box wall 11 and to be energized by means of a conventional switch as 32. The drill 25 is provided with the usual chuck 33 which is adapted to operatively hold the end of the brush shaft 34 which carries the wood base brush 35. The brush 35 may be made from any suitable material. For example, it may be made with fibre or nylon bristles. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the brush 35 is adapted to be rotated by the power drill 25 and this rotating brush is positioned in an eraser guide track and brush compartment, generally indicated by the numeral 36.

As shown in FIGS. 1 through 4, the chalk catching box is provided with an eraser entrance slot 37 formed in the side wall 14 and an eraser exit slot 38 formed in the side wall 13. The slots 37 and 38 are oppositely disposed and may be provided with detachable covers, if desired, for use when the eraser cleaning device is not being used.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the eraser track and brush compartment includes a plywood board 39 which is suitably secured to the bottom wall 12 by any suitable means and which serves as a back wall for the eraser guide track. The board 39 is spaced from the back wall 10 by means of the two plywood spacer blocks 40 and 41 which are fixedly secured in place by any suitable means. As shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, an upper plate or brush supporting plate 42 and a lower eraser guide track plate 43 are fixedly secured to the board wall 39 by any suitable means, as by the screws 44 and 45, respectively. The plates 42 and 43 are preferably made from a perforated light steel plate to permit easy escape of the chalk dust into the rest of the box for collection at the bottom thereof. The plates 42 and 43 are supported on their outer edges by means of the upper and lower longitudinally extended angle bars 46 and 47, respectively, The angle bars 46 and 47 are supported at the ends thereof by means of the vertical angle bars 48 and 49, and at a central position by means of the vertical brace 50. The vertical angle bars 48 and 49 are fixedly secured to the box walls 13 and 14 by any suitable means, as by means of the screws 59. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the angle bars 46, 47, 48 and 49 are preferably perforated to permit passage of chalk dust therethrough. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, an angle bar 51 is fixedly mounted on the lower plate 43 by any suitable means, as by welding, to provide an outer eraser guide wall which is spaced from the inner eraser guide Wall 39.

A stationary wood back brush 52 is fixedly mounted on the plate 42 between the rotating brush 35 and the side wall 14 by means of the screws 54, and this brush functions as an eraser guide means as well as a means for loosening the coarse chalk dust on the erasers. A second stationary brush 53, which is a fine finishing brush, is mounted on plate 42 between the side wall 13 and the rotating brush 35, by means of the screws 54. The brushes 52 and 53 are preferably made with nylon or fibre bristles.

In the use of the present invention the erasers to be cleaned are manually pushed through the slot 37 with the backs thereof disposed downwardly to permit the chalk erasing surfaces thereof to be engaged successively by the brushes 52, 35 and 53. It will be understood that each eraser pushes the eraser disposed before it through the cleaning apparatus. A suitable push rod, such as a ruler, could be used to manually push through the last few erasers to empty the apparatus. It will be seen that the coarse brush 52 functions to clean off the excess chalk dust from the eraser as it is moved thereacross, and that the revolving brush 35 then functions to clean ofi the imbedded chalk dust. The brush 53 functions to remove any fine chalk dust from the erasers which may have been loosened by the brush 35 but not removed. The chalk dust removed from the erasers will fall by gravity down to the bottom of the apparatus box and may be easily emptied. Experience has shown that an eraser cleaning apparatus of the present invention is an eflicient and practical device for the purpose intended.

FIG. shows a slightly modified embodiment of the invention which incorporates a manually driven rotating brush instead of a power driven brush. The structure of the embodiment of FIG. 5 is substantially the same as that of FIG. 1 and the similar parts are marked with corresponding reference numerals followed by the small letter a. In the embodiment of FIG. 5 the rotating brush drive shaft 34a is extended upwardly and through suitable retainer brackets as 55 which are held in place on the rear box wall by means of the screws 56. The shaft 34a extends upwardly through the hole 57 in the box top wall 11a and is provided on the upper end thereof with the crank handle 58. The embodiment of FIG. 5 functions in substantially the same manner as the embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 4 and the description of the operation of the first embodiment is equally applicable to the second embodiment of FIG. 5. The only difference is that the shaft 34a is adapted to be manually operated by the handle 58. The second embodiment of FIG. 5 may also be used when either mounted on a table or hung on a wall by any suitable means.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiments of the invention herein disclosed are well calculated to fulfill the objects above stated, it Will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change without departing from the proper scope or fair meaning of the subjoined claim.

What I claim is:

An eraser cleaning apparatus of the class described, comprising: a box; a compartment formed in said box and extending from one side to the other side of the box; a perforated eraser guide track formed on the lower end of said compartment; said box being provided with an entrance slot at one end of said track and an exit slot at the other end of said guide track, whereby erasers may be manually moved over said track and through the box for a cleaning action on the erasers; drive means mounted in said box above said compartment and including a rotatable shaft extending down into said compartment; a circular cleaning brush horizontally and centrally disposed in the upper end of said compartment over said guide track and connected to said rotatable shaft for rotating the circular brush over the surface of erasers as they are moved over the guide track for cleaning engagement therewith; and, a stationary brush disposed on each side of the rotatable brush in the upper end of said compartment for cleaning engagement with the surface of erasers before and after the cleaning engagement thereof by said rotating brush.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 652,581 Ayars June 26, 1900 754,220 Jones Mar. 8, 1904 940,254 Jones Nov. 16, 1909 1,279,350 Jones Sept. 17, 1918 

